Up to now the axial shifting of the working and intermediate rolls of a rolling mill has been performed by a variety of coupling methods which are all very expensive since a different apparatus was required for each roll size. The known apparatuses can only be used in connection with a comparatively large roll stub shaft diameter.
An annular-gripping safety clamping unit is described in German Open patent application Ser. No. 28 45 266 for various applications, but not for rolling-mill rolls. Also structurally required sliding forces only up to 20 tons can be transmitted by force-locking units of this type.